Oregon is increasing its bottle and can deposit from 5 cents to 10 cents per container on April 1. The increase is a state order based on a decreasing number of bottle and can returns in 2014 and 2015.

After a decreasing numbers of can and bottle returns over the last few years, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission evaluated container return percentages over 2014 and 2015. In 2014 68.26 percent of containers were returned, and in 2015 only 64.45 percent were returned, according to the OLCC. Because the numbers were less than 80 percent in both years, Oregon law requires the OLCC to increase the bottle deposit.

Bottle and can returns started in Oregon in 1971, the first state to do so. The Oregon Bottle Bill, its official title, was designed to prevent an increasing amount of litter. At the time, beverage containers made up 40 percent of roadside litter, according to the OLCC. Since the bill was introduced, that number has dropped to six percent.

The bill won’t affect just beer. All bottles and cans increase by 5 cents. This includes “water and flavored water, beer and other malt beverages, soda water and mineral water, and carbonated soft drinks in container sizes up to and including 3 fluid liters,” according to the OLCC. In 2018, this will expand to include almost all containers between 4 ounces and 1.5 liters except distilled liquor, wine bottles, milk and infant formula.

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